A Special Weekend
by angel-death-dealer
Summary: Sequel to 'A Broody Weekend'. Jack and Kate are jetting off on holiday, leaving their daughter with Charlie and Claire. As they pack, they get a taste of Charlie and Claire went through when they went away.


**Okay, it's about time I got around to doing this. I finally realised what, exactly, I'm doing with this, and my boot up the arse from EternalConfusion worked, and I got this finished. I hit a creative snag last night by writing it, and managed to finish it with some unusual inspiration that actually came from washing up. Jack is right - it is theraputic. The main reason the inspiration came was because above the sink is about a bazillion photographs in our kitchen, so I actually got around to typing this. **

**Right, onto the story. This is set six months after A Broody Weekend, and now it's Jack and Kate's turn to head off on holiday, leaving thier daughter with Charlie and Claire for the weekend. I decided that having Charlie and Claire's adventures with her would just be repeating the first story, and it wouldn't be jate, so I'm setting this one following our favourite couple along on thier holiday.**

**And YES, we will find out what Jack's surprise was from the end of the last story.

* * *

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"Jack, I'm not sure this is a good idea." Kate told him doubtfully.

She looked at him with a worried frown. Jack looked up from the suitcase he was currently zipping up, and saw her anxious face. He gave her a reassuring smile, abandoning the suitcase half-zipped with a shirt sleeve still poking out of it, and crossed the room to her. Standing before her, he cupped her face, and gave her a kiss.

"Kate, you've been excited about this for weeks." He reminded her. "We both have."

"I know." She said, her voice still filled with the doubt that had been there since the previous night.

"But..." Jack hinted. He knew her inside and out, and there was a definate 'but' that was coming. Kate didn't answer, instead she shifted the baby in her arms and kissed her forehead. "Katie," Jack started, his hands around her waist and she looked up at him.

"I don't think I can leave her, Jack." She told him sadly.

Jack gave her a sad smile, and then kissed the baby in her arms. Rhiannon was six months old now, and growing faster everyday. Already, she was talking to herself in that language that only babies understood, and the whispy dark hair she had a birth was now longer and thicker, showing them that it would grow as wild and curly as her mothers. She still had the amazing eyes that glittered when she laughed, and the recent summer had left a subtle dusting of freckles across her skin.

Like Charlie and Claire had left them to mind Aaron and Alana whilst they went on holiday, it was time for roles to be reversed. This time, it was Jack and Kate jetting off, with Rhiannon staying with her godparents. Charlie and Claire had been all to pleased to mind the girl for them, and Jack and Kate had been long looking forward to having a weekend to themselves, where they could have some alone time and a decent night's sleep. However, as it got increasingly closer to the date they were due to leave, they started to realise how hard it was for the others to leave their children in another country.

"It's just a weekend." Jack reminded her, even though it was just as hard for him to imagine a weekend where he couldn't see his daughter. His whole life now revolved around Kate and Rhiannon. He loved waking up every morning to see Kate lying beside him, and then to cross the room to the crib, and see thier daughter either sleeping peacefully, or laying quietly, cooing to herself whilst her little hands played with the stuffed animals.

"A long weekend." Kate corrected, and then looked up. "We could take her with us." She suggested.

Jack smiled at her, but shook his head slightly. "Kate, we've talked about this." He reminded her. "At this time of year, the heat's getting to her enough here, let alone in Hawaii, it would just be cruel for her."

Kate nodded, looking at Rhiannon again, who made a babyish sound that sounded like she was backing her father up. She definately was a Daddy's girl, but a cuddle with Mom was always on the menu. "I know." Kate said, and then looked up at Jack again, resting their foreheads together. "I'm just gonna miss her, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna miss her too." He said softly, sighing lightly at the feeling of both Kate and Rhiannon's gentle breathing against his neck. "That's what happens when you spend six months straight with them...it's hard letting go." Rhiannon made that baby sigh against him, and he smiled. "I'm never going to let this little one go." He said.

"Not just hard for me then." She mused with a gentle smile.

He shook his head. "Not in the slightest." He assured her. "I hate going out of the room and leaving her behind, let alone to another country." Rhiannon gurgled in her baby-language again, and Jack gave a smile to his daughter. "Yeah, that's right, angel." He whispered to her, even though he had no idea what she was saying.

Kate smiled, and pulled away from him as she heard the telephone ring in the background. "Can you hold her a second, I'll go answer that." She told him.

"Sure." He opened out his arms, and accepted his baby daughter into them as Kate went off. "Do me a favour, sweetie," He said to Rhiannon once Kate was out of earshot. "Be a good girl and don't cry when we go so that Mommy doesn't worry."

Rhiannon told hold of the collar of his shirt and plunged it into her mouth, chewing on it happily, which Jack took to mean a yes.

Kate replaced the phone when she hung up. It had been Claire, checking what time it they were dropping Rhiannon off tomorrow morning. She had been tempted to say 'never', but knew that a weekend away was going to do her the world of good. Claire suspected that she might finally find out what Jack had brought for her in London. Fifteen months later, she still hadn't found out what it was that Charlie had picked up for Jack in London, despite hours of begging, and threatening to withdraw certain exercises (a notion which Kate gave up on shortly after initiating).

She started on her way back upstairs to held finish the packing, but caught sight of a photograph on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. It was of her and Jack before Rhiannon was born. It can't have been that much before, as Kate was still proudly showing off her baby bump. The picture was taken in Charlie and Claire's garden, at a barbeque, and Jack was holding a kebab skewer in one hand, feeding it to Kate who was laughing.

She smiled at the memory, and continued up to the next photo, taking the stairs as she went. The next photograph was taken when Kate had just delivered Rhiannon, and was she was sitting up in bed holding her baby, looking down at her like she was the most precious thing in the world. She remembered Jack taking that photo, because she hadn't realised that there was a camera with him until she heard the click of the photograph being taken. All that could be seen of Rhiannon was a tiny arm reaching out from the piles of blankets.

The next photograph was of Jack standing sideways with Rhiannon, just after they had brought her home, wearing a white baby grow. Rhiannon was lying against Jack's chest, clutching his shirt in her hand with her head lying on his shoulder, facing towards the camera. Naturally, she was fast asleep. She spent twice as much time asleep in the hospital than any other babies, so the nurses had adored her. Jack was looking at the top of her head adoringly, with one arm supporting her under her diaper, and the other tenderly stroking her back.

The next was with Kate and Rhiannon, lying on the double bed together fast asleep. They were both lying on their fronts, head turned inwards to face each other, and so symmetrical in everyway that Jack couldn't not take the picture. She hadn't even known that he had taken it until the film had been developed.

Finally, she reached a photograph where Rhiannon was actually awake. She was lying on her front, green eyes glittering with accomplishment from being able to push herself up on her forearms. Her soft brushing of dark hair was slightly longer than when they had brought her home from the hospital, and Kate remembered Jack getting down on his stomach in front of her to mimic her position when he took the photograph. Every movement he made, she had tried to copy.

The following photograph was another accomplishment for the child, the first time she had sat up on her own. She was sat up, looking around her for the fuss she knew all to well she was going to get, between Kate's opened legs. Just on the side of the photo you could make out Kate's excited face at her daughter's feet as she held out her arms precariously, just in case she could fall.

There was a photograph of Kate attempting to feed Rhiannon, with both of them covered in baby food where she had decided she wasn't hungry, but they were both smiling. Jack had stood there, watching, noticing that Rhiannon had the same smile as Kate's, only minus the teeth.

Another showed Jack lying on his back in bed, with Rhiannon stretched out across his chest in only a diaper. Both were fast asleep, with Rhiannon's little cheek pressed up against Jack's chest, and Jack's hand holding her steady even though he was sleeping.

There were also various pictures of the three of them that weren't taken by them. There was the three of them messing around in Hurley's pool, with Rhiannon in a inflatable; Jack and Kate singing on a karaoke machine together at Charlie's. Rhiannon sitting up beside Aaron, Alana, and Sun's daughter Mika amongst Sun's beautiful flowers (Kate particularly liked this one because it looked like a professional photograph); Many of Kate and Jack cuddling each other or their daughter; and even one of Jack and Kate kissing at a party, just after they had become an official couple. A beautiful one of Charlie and Claire at their wedding, with the accompanying one of Jack and Kate together - Kate in her bridesmaid dress, and Jack in his tuxedo, with Kate's stomach bulging gently with pregnancy.

Littered around these pictures on the wall were photographs of their friends, from when they were rescued. Charlie and Claire holding Aaron between them; Sun and Jin showing off their toddler in much the same way as the other couple; Sawyer drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels like this was the only thing he had missed about civilisations. There was a group one of them, all standing on the beach smiling. If you looked at the back row, on one side, you could see Kate grinning as Jack pressed his lips against her temple.

The last photo, at the top of the stairs, she stopped in front of. It was taken on the day of Rhiannon's baptism, Jack and Kate were standing together with her on the steps outside of the church. Neither one of them was particularly religious, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. This was just a scanned copy of the photograph. The real one was in the safe in thier bedroom, which also contained Rhiannon's birth certificate and other important things that they wanted to cherish, like copies of her handprints and footprints that even now, only six months down the line, reminded them how much their baby girl was growing up already.

The sound of a baby gurgling broke her out of her thoughts, and she turned to see Jack watching her from a distance, with Rhiannon sitting on his hip. The two of them were smiling at her, and the baby clapped her hands when she was satisfied that she had won her mother's attention. Kate smiled back at them, laughing gently to herself as they approached her.

"Why did I have a feeling you'd be out here?" He asked her, smiling.

She laughed again, he always caught her there. Whenever she didn't know what to do with herself, she would end up looking at photographs. It had started off when they had first arrived back from the island, and Kate had come into possession of all of her mother's remaining belongings, which included photographs and certificates, everything of Kate's past that she thought that her family had missed, all cherished together.

Next, she had found photographs of Jack growing up, and amid the laughter of his old haircut ("It was cool at the time!" He had protested), she had ended up spending a lot of money on photoframes so that there were photos all over the place.

There had been a photo war over two particular pictures. One was of Jack in the bath at seven moths old, according to the back of the picture, and the other was of Kate in the bath, at nine months old. Both of them were posing for the camera, but it didn't stop the fact that everything had been laid bare for the camera.

Jack had insisted that the one of Kate be put up with the other photographs, and so she had dug through for the one of him, and put it up by the front door until Jack had decided to give the photograph back. It was only when she had taken it down, and he had started the chase up again, that they came to the logical decision. So now, when one went into their bedroom and looked just beside the door, there were three photographs. Two of these were the offending ones from the pair, and the third was in the centre, of Rhiannon in the bath, which was only added a few weeks ago. Looking at the pictures together, it was clear to see how much she was taking after her parents.

"I like looking at them." She smiled.

He nodded, putting his arm around her and looking at the picture of the baptism alongside her. All of them looked so happy, particularly Rhiannon, who was more than happy to have everyone's attention focused on her. The baby leaned away from Jack, but was still secure in her arms, and her pudgy hand fell on the photograph that they were staring at.

Kate laughed softly. "That's right, sweetheart, that's you." She said to the child, stroking her head softly.

Jack looked down the line at the other pictures, memories that he couldn't help but smile at. In fact, he couldn't help but smile at every memory, as he couldn't bring to mind a bad one. Ever since he had been with Kate, there wasn't a reason for bad memories anymore, and that had only improved with the arrival of Rhiannon, which had brought them closer together than ever. Having the physical result of their love for each other present in their lives every day was indescribable to them, and they loved her with all their hearts.

A sudden thought struck Kate, and she dipped her head to one side, smirking when Rhiannon copied her curiously. She was at that age now when she was mimicking everything she saw, which was amusing when Kate was getting into a huff about something and started flinging her arms around. Rhiannon sat there waving her arms, and it took all of what Jack had not to laugh at either of them.

"Hmm..." She mused. "I fancy a pizza." She said randomly, causing Jack to laugh.

"Yeah, that sounds good." He agreed, as the prospect of pizza pointed out just how hungry he was.

The two of them headed downstairs to call in dinner, and spent their evening together playing with Rhiannon and watching a movie together once she had fallen asleep. Kate stayed at the side of her crib, saying that she needed to watch her for longer because she wasn't going to see her for four days, and Jack had managed to coax her into bed, only to get up and do the same himself several minutes later. It was only when they decided that they were both as bad as themselves and that if they weren't careful, they were going to wake her up, that they decided to get some sleep before the early flight they had.


End file.
